2a<i S. No 47., Nov. 22. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



403 



And thus ends Curll's first appearance at the 

 Bar of the House of Lords. 



Curll was, however, not easily dispirited : the 

 poison of Pope, the "tyrannick rod" of the 

 Westminsters, the reprimand of the Lord Chan- 

 cellor, were alike indifferent to him; if, indeed, 

 they did not stimulate him to fresh exertions. 



On May 11 he was released fi'om the custody 

 of Black JR,od ; and in less than a fortnight, we 

 find him in correspondence with Tiioresby on the 

 subject of a new edition of Erdeswick's Stafford- 

 shire, as the following letters show : — 



« May 22,;.1716. 

 " Worthy Sir, 

 " The Life of Archbishop Tillotson* is not yet done; 

 so soon as it is, both that and Kadcliffe shall be faithfully 

 sent you. Messrs. Gales desire your acceptance of their 

 service. Mr. Rawlinson, of St. John's College in Oxon, 

 has sent me up a copy of Mr. Erdeswick's Survey of 

 Staffordshire, whicli was put to the press this day. He 

 is told, Sir, that you have a good copy of this valuable 

 manuscript, and entreats the favour of you that you will 

 be pleased to lend him yours to collate with his own : all 

 imaginable care shall be taken of it, and it shall be faith- 

 fully returned to you in a fortnight's time. This he hopes 

 for from you, as you are a lover of antiquities, and a pro- 

 moter of learning; and your speedy answer to this re- 

 quest will very nmch oblige him, our club of antiquaries, 

 and more particularly, Sir, your obliged humble Servant, 



" E. CUKLL." 



« Sir, 



" Friday, June 1, 1716. 



" I have just received your obliging letter, wherein you 

 are so kind to promise me the loan of your copy of Erdes- 

 wick. The greatest care ima'ginable shall be taken of it, 

 and I herewith send you a note of my hand for the safe 

 return of it in a month's time. I must desire you, Sir, to 

 send it me by the very first opportunity (I will pay the 

 carriage), because I have this da}' received the first 

 printed sheet back from Oxford, and will not let it be 

 worked ofi' till I have collated it with your manuscript, 

 with Avhich I will return you two printed copies. I will 

 deliver Dr. liadclifte's Life to whosoever yon order to call 

 for it. As to Collins, I know nothing of his residence ; 

 the last time I saw him, he told me he was promised to 

 have a place in the Custom House. 



" I am. Sir, your obliged humble Servant, 

 " E. Curll." 



« June 1, 1716. One month after the date hereof, I 

 promise to return, free from all damage, to Mr. Thoresby, 

 or his order, his manuscript copy of Erdeswick's Survey 

 of Staffordshire, together with two printed copies of the 

 said work. 



" Per E. CuRLt,." 



And here the reader, who cannot be greatly 



■ This work is printed in folio and octavo, and is pre- 

 tended to have been compiled from the minutes of the 

 Eev. Mr. Young, late Dean of Salisbury, by F. XL [F. 

 Hutchinson], with many curious Memoirs conrmunicated 

 by the late Right Rev. Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Sarum. 

 Bishop Kennet, however, in his Complete History of Eng- 

 land, vol. iii. p. G73., 2nd edition, observes, that "some 

 persons had reason to believe that Bishop Burnet and 

 Dean Young had little or no hand in that Life ; " and 

 both the performance itself, and the name of the book- 

 seller, Edmund Curll, will confirm that suspicion. (Dr. 

 Birch's Life of Tillotson, 8vo., p. 2.) 



impressed in Curll's favour by what has already 

 been recorded of him, will do him the justice to 

 admit, that when undertaking this new edition of 

 Erdeswick, Curll used his best endeavours to make 

 it as perfect as possible. 



We may bring the present Note to a close with 

 the following Memoranda of Sums paid by Curll 

 to his Miltons and Pindars — 



" Who, free from rhyme or reason, rule or check, 

 Broke Priscian's head, and Pegasus's neck." 



They are from the curious MS. Collections of 

 the late Mr. Upcott, and were first printed in 21ie 

 OentlemmCs Magazine, vol. xciv. pp. 315. 410. 

 and 513.: 



" May 30, 1709. Ed. Holdsworth sold to Mr. Curll for 

 five guineas a compleat copy of a Latin poem intituled 

 3Iuscipula, and fifty copies lor his own use." 



" May 18, 1715. Susannah Centlivre then received of 

 Mr. Curll twenty guineas in full for the copy of my play 

 called The Wonder; a Woman Keeps a Secret. Received 

 the same sum for The Cruel Gift, and the same for The 

 Artifice. The last two plays were added to the receipt 

 at a later period." 



" Feb. 13, 1716. John Durant Breval was paid by Mr. 

 Curll four guineas for a poem called The Art of Dress ; 

 in another document called The I'rogress of Dress." 



" July 4, 1716. F. Chute received of Messrs. Curll and 

 Hooke full satisfaction for the sole right and title of the 

 copy of a poem called The Petticoat." 



« April 23, 1718. Charles Molloy received of Mr. Curll 

 five guineas, and a note of hand for like sum, condi- 

 tionally payable upon the sale of 900 of a play called The 

 Coquet, acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields' theatre, April 19, 

 and two following nights." 



" Nov. 13, 1719. Charles Beckingham received of Mr. 

 Curll, for the sole right and title to the copy of a play 

 by me written, intitled The Tragedy of King Henry the 

 Foui-th of France ; and also of my translation of Kapin's 

 Christus Fatiens, fifty guineas." 



« Nov. 28, 1719. J«hn Leigh received of Ur. Curll, 

 for a copy of a play called Kensington Garden, or The 

 Pretenders, forty-five guineas." 



" Feb. 20, 1723. Robert Samber was paid by Mr. Curll 

 four guineas for the sole right and title to the copy of a 

 book by me written, intituled The Praise of Drunkenness, 

 with a reserved right of twelve copies bound." 



" Sept. 16, 1723. Thomas Stackhouse received of Mr. 

 Curll ten guineas for writing The Life of Bishop Atter- 

 bury." 



" March 3,' 1724-5. Ann Brome received then of Mr. 

 Edmund Curll one guinea in full satisfaction for all my 

 right, property, and interest to and in the following copy, 

 viz. The Gentleman Apothecary; beiiig a late and true 

 Story, turned out of French, with several Letters, 8vo., 

 which said copy was the property of my late husband, 

 Mr. Charles Brome, deceased." 



" April, 1726. Thomas Cooke was paid by Mr. Curll 

 5/. for writing Mr. Marvell's Life, procuring some of his 

 Letters, and publishing his Works." 



" Oct. 1726. John Clarke received of Mr. Curll two pay- 

 ments of one guinea each in part of the copy-money of 

 two novels : 1. The Virgin Seducer.* 2. The Batchelor's 

 Keeper; agreed to be printed in duodecimo at half-a- 



* These tales occupy pp. 61. to 146. of Atterburyana, 

 being Miscellanies by the late Bishop of Rochester, §•£., 

 ivith — ■ 



L A Collection of Original Letters, §'e. 



